Free His Taste of Temptation: In the Line of Duty, Book 3 by Cathryn Fox Page B

her sweet cherry scent his efforts proved futile. What the hell was it about her in that dress that had him wanting to keep her here in the apartment, in his bed, so no other man could look at her? Early that morning, while lying in bed, they’d set the ground rules for this fling. Thirty days of sex, and nothing else. He’d be wise to remember that and keep all his other emotions in check because he wasn’t looking for anything more. With the way Madison had readily agreed to the terms, it was clear that she wasn’t either.
    But goddammit, she was smoking hot.
    Brad swallowed the saliva pooling on his tongue as he stared at her, but there was nothing he could do to stifle the moan crawling out of his throat or keep himself from murmuring, “Jesus…”
    “What?” she asked, inching backward, obviously mistaking his shock for something else. “Am I overdressed? Should I get changed?” She made a move to turn, mumbling something about Chuck E. Cheese and the dress being Sophie’s idea.
    “No, wait.” He hurried out when he caught the distress in her voice. He took two measured steps toward her and grabbed her wrist to prevent her from fleeing. “It’s just…I’m not used to seeing…” He let his words drift away and exhaled slowly before saying, “You look beautiful.”
    She gave him an odd look, dark lashes blinking quickly over big brown eyes, then she relaxed a bit and nodded. “So do you.”
    “Oh yeah?” he asked, looking at his shirt, tie and black dress pants. “No one has ever called me beautiful before.” Still holding her hand, he rubbed his thumb over the inside of her wrist, gave her a wink and added, “Rugged, handsome and adorable for sure, and I’ve even heard sex god tossed around a time or two, but never beautiful.”
    Her grin reached her eyes and lit up her pretty face. Jesus, she was gorgeous, which made him wonder why she didn’t have a horde of men pounding down her door, or why she’d agree to one month of sex with a train wreck like him when she could have her pick of guys.
    “Adorable? I think you might have made that one up,” she teased. “You’re hardly adorable.”
    He stepped closer, crowding her. When she wet her lips, he noticed the rapid-fire pulse in her neck. He dipped his head and asked, “So you’re saying you agree that I’m sex god?”
    She crinkled her nose. “I never said that.”
    He laughed and wrapped a long strand of her dark hair around his finger. He gave a little tug, and teased, “You mean…yet.”
    “Well, I suppose you do have thirty days to convince me,” she ribbed in return, her words reminding him of the parameters they set in place.
    He felt a shiver move through her, and while he wanted to scoop her into his arms and carry her right back into her bedroom where he could make up for last night and do right by her for the next month, he knew they had a reservation waiting. Besides, he wanted to take her on a real date. After fucking her like a goddamn rutting animal, she deserved at least that much from him. “Now, come on. We don’t want to be late.”
    Thirty minutes later, they stood inside the doors of one of the fanciest restaurants in town. Since he was a fast-food kind of guy, he’d only been to the restaurant once, just last year when his buddy Cole Sullivan and his new wife, Gemma, had invited all their friends to celebrate their engagement party. He shook his head, hardly able to believe how many of his comrades were either married, getting married, and had kids on the way. Honestly, though, there was a side of him that kind of resented what the others had. But he’d long ago resigned himself to the fact that love, commitment and monogamy weren’t in the cards for him.
    “This place is gorgeous.” Madison smoothed her hands over her stomach and took it all in.
    Brad spoke to the maître d and then slipped his arm around Madison’s back to guide her to their table, a nice cozy spot in the corner. After they placed